The present invention relates to certain novel chroman derivatives of Formula I as depicted below, pharmaceutical formulations containing them, and their uses as therapeutic agents, and syntheses therefor. Their uses as therapeutic agents that may act as lipoxygenase inhibitors include but is not limited to prevention or treatment of diseases involving apoptosis in cancer cells; diseases involving hypoxia, or anoxia; diseases involving inflammation; disorders of the airways; diseases involving neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation; and diseases involving the autoimmune system.
The use of certain chroman-ylmethylamino derivatives for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and epilepsy has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,663,294; 5,541,199; 5,670,667; 5,684,039; 5,756,521; 6,235,774; and 6,331,561. The use of chromans for treating mitochondria associated diseases including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease, neuronal and cardiac ischemia, Huntington's disease, and stroke is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,498,191 and 6,511,966 and US patent application US 2003/0176448. Triphenyl phosphonium tocopherol analogs having cardioprotective or mitochondrially targeted antioxidant properties have been described by Gisar, J M in EP 545,283 and by Murphy, M. in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2002), 959, 263-274 and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,532, US 2202/00523242 and US 2003/0069208.
The use of antioxidants targeted to mitochondria shown to be effective at slowing disease progression has been reported by Jauslin, M L in FASEB Journal, express article 10.1096/fj.03-0240fje. Therapeutic benefit of administering γ-tocopherol derivatives and metabolites as antioxidants and nitrogen oxide scavengers which treat high blood pressure, thromboembolic diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, natriuretic disease, formation of neuropathological lesion and reduced immune system response are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,555,575; 6,24,479; 6,150,402; and 6,410,589. The use of certain chroman derivatives in cosmetic and dermatological preparations is disclosed in US 2002/0127252. Beneficial effects of Vitamin E in the progression of a number of major degenerative diseases of the nervous system is examined in Fryer, Nutritional Neuroscience, (1998) Vol. 1, 327-351. Reduction of the inflammation marker CRP with 6-hydroxy chromans and with tocopherols has been disclosed in commonly owned U.S. patent applications 60/426,764 and US 2003/0100603.
The use of chromans as lipoxygenase inhibitors has been disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,609, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,684, U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,661, U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,469, U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,772; U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,673; U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,547; U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,775; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,346.